There's a great country song, penned by Tompall Glaser and Harlan Howard in 1965, called "The Streets of Baltimore". It's a bittersweet tune about a man who moves to Baltimore to please his wife, but learns she loves the nightlife more than him. I'm thinking Tompall wouldn't much recognize the place these days.
It's hard to know exactly what's been going on in Baltimore the last week. You'd think it was A Tale of Two Cities, based on the very different reactions to events from different media outlets. And if you follow along on Facebook, you are most likely hysterical.
I've seen the exact same events described as either "the beginning of a national stand against oppression" or "another sign of the end of days". I seriously doubt either is the case, though if I were to be hoping for something it'd be the former. I'm not really too keen on apocalyptic delusions and my first thought when folks go there is "straight jacket please".
After most national media ignored the days of peaceful protesting by thousands of Americans of every background in Baltimore, a little bit of rioting by black youths was the dog whistle cable news networks needed to get beside themselves and in on the action.
We don't know much, but we have learned a few things this week.
Some burned couches and overturned cars are perfectly acceptable when perpetrated by white college basketball fans, but we sure can't have any black kids standing up to decades of police brutality looting a drug store.
Famous football players may get arrested and suspended from the league for whipping their kid, but a single mom can beat the crap out of her kid on national TV and be hailed a hero. My first thought there is maybe she could teach Rand Paul something, but then realize it was his wacky daddy that really needed the lesson.
Cutting through all the layers of junk piled onto Baltimore, the one thing I hope we've learned is that way too many Americans are dying in the hands of the cops. That doesn't make cops bad, it simply means some people shouldn't be cops.
A popular meme running around the infotainment superduper highway these days illlustrates the issue perfectly: In March of this year, 111 Americans were killed by the police. 52 have died at the hands of British cops...since 1900. Let's repeat that, 111 in a month versus 52 in 115 years.
If you don't think something's wrong with that picture you're just blind.
In related unrelated news, the governor of Maryland called out the national guard to help keep the peace in Baltimore. Probably not a bad move. The governor of Texas, on the other hand, has called out the national guard to keep an eye on the U.S. military while they do maneuvres in his state.
You know, so they won't overthrow a bunch of cactus. Speaking of delusional!
I could go on with this, but dang it's depressing. Think I'll listen to a little music good music. I prefer Gram Parsons with my Streets of Baltimore, I recommend you try it too.